Energy experts at the University of Sydney will lead a multimillion dollar project announced jointly today by CSIRO and the University.

Australia's national science agency predicts that our homes and businesses could be powered by as many as 20 different energy sources and technologies by 2050. Together with its four university partners it aims to prepare the electricity sector for the monumental make-over required to undergo its transformation.

CSIRO announced a $13 million research collaboration between itself and four Australian universities - University of Sydney, University of Newcastle, University of Queensland and University of New South Wales - to develop the nation's capacity to plan and design the most efficient, low emission electricity grid for Australia.

Leader of the research program, University of Sydney's Professor Tony Vassallo, said: "Each university will contribute specialist knowledge and expertise and will work with CSIRO to develop a new suite of tools to understand, develop and optimise energy grids of the future.

"This will assist decision makers in their choices about future grid development," said Professor Vassallo.

Launching the Future Grid Cluster, Dr Tom Hatton, CSIRO Energy Group Executive, said the electricity sector is undergoing a huge transformation, a change not seen since the industrial revolution.

"We are facing unprecedented change in the electricity system over the next 20 to 30 years. We're talking about change to a system that has seen stability for decades and has used technologies and energy sources that are predictable and controllable. Moving away from that is going to require a great deal of effort and capacity building," Dr Hatton said.

"The Future Grid Cluster brings together Australia's best research capabilities and provides a framework the electricity sector needs to make $240 billion worth of decisions in the next two decades."

The project is supported by $10 million worth of in-kind contribution from university partners and a $3.2 million grant from the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund - established to enable the skills of the wider Australian and global research community to be applied to the major national challenges targeted by CSIRO's Flagship research program.

The research will build on CSIRO's broad electricity sector and energy management work, including the industry-led Future Grid Forum that began in 2012.

The research cluster launched today will draw together engineering, economic and policy aspects of grid development and optimisation with four major areas covered in the research:

improved understanding of impacts of different loads, generation sources and energy storage on system security, led by University of Sydney

planning and co-optimisation of electricity and gas networks, led by University of Newcastle

economics of alternative network development paths and estimates of total cost and price impacts, led by University of Queensland policy measures and regulatory changes to facilitate a smooth transition to a de-carbonised future grid, led by University of NSW.